


The Price of Changing Her Story

by AnotherShotofBourbon



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, changing the narrative, fictional au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-05-21
Packaged: 2018-03-23 05:14:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3755722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherShotofBourbon/pseuds/AnotherShotofBourbon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra has been through a lot in the last two years. She's fought Amon and the Equalists and Cabbage Corp. She's made new friends, and put some of them in jail. She's fought her evil Uncle and the anti-Avatar. All she wants is one night's sleep, one day to just relax before the next disaster.<br/>That all changed when someone showed up at her door, out of the blue, and said she wanted to change the ending to Korra's story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Fictional Prologue

> _We’re in a strange relationship with our fiction, you see. Sometimes we fear it’s taking us over, sometimes we beg to be taken over by it… Sometimes we want to see what’s inside of it._

 

* * *

 

Its barely been a day since Korra kept the two Spirit Portals open, stopped an evil Avatar, and returned to Republic City. She hadn’t even gotten back into a regular sleep pattern yet. She was still having nightmares over Vaatu.

But here she was being woken up by some kind emergency on Air Temple Island.

_Ugh, what is it this time?_

Ever since she came to this city, it has been one disaster after another.

First it was the Equalists and Amon. She’d made some friends in Mako and Bolin, sure, but then she had to stomach another of her good friends turning out to be an Equalist spy, and turning against Korra. At the time she thought it was the hardest thing she’d ever have to do, fighting a friend and putting her in jail.

But she defeated Amon and his Cabbage Corp sympathizers.

Then she tries to take a nice little vacation and gets interrupted by a civil war started by her crazy, traitorous Uncle. Who then unleashed a spirit of pure darkness and evil, and then fused with him and became an anti-Avatar. And she the Spirit of the Avatar ripped from her, but it was ok since she used her own spiritual energy to become a giant spirit being, ripped out Raava from evil Unavaatu.

She managed to keep both Spirit Portals open, reunited the Spirit World with the Physical World. Korra changed the world. And she can’t get a decent night’s sleep without some new disaster.

What is it going to be this time? Riots in the Earth Kingdom? Legion of sky bison attacking?

“What is it?” Korra sighed, trying to rub sleep from her eyes.

“We captured an intruder who gained access to the island,” the White Lotus said.

“Yeah and?”

“She’s asking specifically to talk to you.”

“Again, how is this any different from the other ones that you’ve picked up?” Korra asked.

“She says she can help you in rebuilding the Air Nation.”

Korra raised an eyebrow. “That’s a different brand of crazy.”

“I agree, and normally we wouldn’t bother you with any of this, but we’ve also gotten reports of a few Republic City citizens suddenly being able to airbend.”

“What?”

“We’ve had several reports of people gaining spontaneous airbending,” the White Lotus repeated.

“And this intruder not only knows about it, but she says she can help?”

“Yes Avatar Korra.”

“Then I guess you’d better take me to her.”

A few short minutes later Korra found herself in a mostly empty room with a table and two chairs. One chair was occupied by a tall, thin woman with long flowing dark hair.

“Avatar Korra!” she said, her green eyes lighting up when she saw the Avatar. The girl was pretty, very pretty. “I can’t believe I finally get to meet you!”

She stood up and crossed the room to shake Korra’s hand vigorously. She was taller than the Avatar. And she was dressed in clothes that were completely foreign to Korra. Some kind of dark blue pants, and a red shirt that accented the woman's attractiveness.

“What do you want?” Korra asked.

“My name is Asami Sato, and you’re my favorite character. I just had to try and change the ending to your story. If you will let me I can help you.”

 


	2. A Real Girl in a Fictional World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra asks the mysterious Asami Sato questions, but her answers only require more questions. Korra doesn't believe her, until Asami asks a question of her own.

“You… what?”

Asami put her hands on her hips. “I’m here to change the ending to your story.”

Korra shook her head, trying to clear it of the cobwebs that still clung to her mind from not getting enough sleep. “You’re going to have to explain that. Use small words and speak slowly.”

Korra sat down.

“Sorry, I’m just super excited to be here. I almost didn’t think it would be even possible,” Asami said with a grin as she sat down across from Korra.

From behind tired blue eyes Korra just stared at this very strange woman.

“Ok, ok, this is going to sound very weird, but,” Asami took a deep breath before continuing, “where I come from, you, everyone here, your life is a fictional series. You’re my favorite character. But I didn’t like the way it ended, so I found a way here to try and change it.”

Korra blinked several times. “I’m not real?”

“I mean,” Asami poked her hand, “you’re real enough.”

“But I’m fictional?”

“You’re equating fictional with not real. But really just fictional means real for someone else. Like someone else's dream. They had the dream and you didn't, but does that make the experience any less real for that person? Each piece of fiction exists as a true reality in its own universe, the trick,” she smiled widely at her next statement, “the trick is getting into that universe.”

“So you are a real girl in this fictional world, huh?” Korra asked, her disbelief all over her face.

“Yeah, basically.”

“Why don’t you tell me how my story ends then? What are you hoping to change?”

“How about I start with the stuff so you’ll know I’m telling the truth?”

“Or you’re a creepy stalker person,” Korra muttered.

“When you were four you were introduced to the White Lotus, you were able bend fire, water, and earth. You always had trouble with air, which you didn’t manage to bend until Amon took your bending away when you were sixteen. When you were five your Uncle tried to kidnap you as part of a secret war within the White Lotus. After the Red Lotus failed and were imprisoned you were kept in a White Lotus compound where you mastered fire, water, earth. When you were sixteen you snuck out to came to Republic City in secret to learn airbending with Tenzin.”

Korra’s eyes narrowed. She never told anyone about the kidnapping attempt. Mostly because she barely remembers any of it. But this strange pale woman knew it all.

“You met Mako and Bolin when you broken into the pro-bending arena. Bolin was flirting with you because you only had eyes for Mako, who you started dating a few months later. But that was after he was hit by Xiu Lau-Gan, the seventeen year old heiress to the Cabbage Corp. She accidentally ran Mako over with her scooter. Long story short, she wound up being an Equalist spy, and you had to arrest her shortly before you fought Amon at the bending arena.”

“Yeah, that was that whole saga,” Korra said. “Ok, you know me pretty well. I still don’t really believe you.”

“Ok, ok I’ve gotta ask though,” Asami said, her eyes brightening once again. “Did you have some romantic feelings for Xiu?”

Korra sputtered. “I… you… What?”

Asami smiled. “There was lots of speculation. It looked like you did, especially when you went to visit her in prison.”

“I… I haven’t visited her in prison yet,” Korra said. “How did you know?”

“I told you, I loved your story. I wanted to help you.”

“Why? Why go through all of this trouble? For a moment, let’s say I believe you, which I don’t,” Korra stated, “why go through this insane trouble jump universes just to help me out?”

“Because of what you meant to me,” Asami said as a matter-of-factly. “You were this woman of color, you were a badass, you were bisexual.  I was so excited to have someone finally represent me, or at least part of me. And all of that for the ending you get. No I couldn’t accept that.”

“Ok, what ending are you trying to prevent?”

“Well after you recover from the Red Lotus attack, you are out of comission for a long time. During that time a tyrant by the name of Kuvira takes over the Earth Kingdom. Eventually she tries to reclaim the Republic City territory. Kuvira is kind of like a more angry you. She harnesses a new kind of super weapon, the spirit vines, and attacks Republic City. You make a final stand.”

“Yeah and?”

Asami swallows hard, “The spirit vine attacks ignite all of the spirit vines in the city. You try to contain it, and you do, but you open a new spirit portal right in the middle of the city." She goes silent for a moment, looking away from Korra. "You don’t make it out.”

Korra stares wide eyed at this Asami woman. “You’re saying you came all this way to stop me from dying?”

Asami nodded. “You are too important for your story to end like that.”

“I’ve… I’ve gotta go,” Korra mumbled as she stood up and left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok here, we go. The basis for the story is set. Everything ready to go. Plot! Twists! Relationships! Horrible pain (I'm assuming because this is me writing this)!  
> Who else is ready for this? (I'm not! I have no idea what I'm doing!)


	3. The Validity of Fictional Claims

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What exactly should they do with this mysterious woman who knows things she shouldn't, couldn't, know?

            “Korra!” called Tenzin as he spotted the Avatar leaving the room with Asami. “I heard you were talking with an intruder.”

            Korra nodded, still a little stunned.

            “What did she have to say?” Tenzin asked. “Should we have Lin arrest her?”

            “She knew things Tenzin.”

            “What kind of things?”

            “Impossible things. Things no one could have known.”

            “Korra, you’re the Avatar. Your exploits are widely known.”

            Korra looked Tenzin right in the eye, “She knew about the Red Lotus attack. She knew things that weren’t talked about. It wasn’t just events. It was motivations. It was… emotions. Things she couldn’t have possibly known. Ever.”

            Tenzin rubbed his beard thoughtfully. “What do you think we should do with her? Is she dangerous?”

            “I don’t think so. She might be crazy. Just… keep an eye on her,” Korra muttered. “I need to go clear my head. Maybe I’ll take a look at the spirit vines all over the city. At least get Raiko to calm down.”

            “Good luck,” Tenzin called after her.

            She didn’t hear him as she had already taken off on her glider for the city.

            Tenzin entered the room where Asami was sitting patiently.

            “Master Tenzin!” she leapt up excitedly and bowed. “It’s an honor to meet you!”

            Tenzin cast a wary eye over the girl. “And who might you be?”

            “I’m Asami Sato, I’m here to help Korra.”

            “Help her with what?”Tenzin asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

            “Well I thought I could help with the rebuilding of the Air Nation. And then I want to make sure Korra survives the Earth Empire attack on Republic City.”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “Oh, and there is the Red Lotus. I know what they are going to do. Has she sent anyone to Zaheer’s prison yet? I’m pretty sure he’s gotten his airbending by now.”

            “What?”

            “The Red Lotus are going to break out of prison and come after Korra. Zaheer is an airbender now.”

            “Master Tenzin?” a White Lotus poked his head into the room. “Fire Lord Zuko is on the radio. He said it’s urgent.”

            The color drained from Tenzin’s face as he bolted out of the room.

            A couple of hours later, after lots of radio chatter trying to warn the other prisons holding the remaining Red Lotus prisoners on Tenzin’s part and Korra failing to deal with the spirit vines that seemed to be taking over the city, they reunited on Air Temple Island.

            “What do you think?” Korra asked.

            “You were right,” Tenzin admitted. “She knows things no one possibly could have known. She knew about the Red Lotus before we even knew.”

            “And I doubt she’s with them. She’d have been like 6 when they were arrested,” Korra said. “What do you think? Is she crazy?”

            They turned to look at Asami. She was completely enraptured watching the airbending kids doing simple little tricks. Actually seeing the manipulation of air particles was amazing. Her green eyes were wide and studying, like she was trying to figure out the science behind the bending. How did it work? Why did it work? Can she build some kind of tech to mimic it?

            “If she’s crazy she believes in it,” Tenzin pointed out. “What do you think we should do with her?”

            Korra shrugged. “Keep her close, keep an eye on her? She could be useful, or dangerous, and I kind of think having her nearby will be easier to deal with whichever one she is as quickly as possible.”

            “If that’s what you think is best.”

            After a few more minutes of discussion with Tenzin, Korra turned to the kitchen to get herself some food, when she spied Asami sitting in the small gazebo overlooking the lights of Republic City reflecting off Yue Bay. She fixed a plate of food and took it out to the strange woman.

            “Here,” Korra said as she handed Asami the plate. “I thought you might want something to eat.”

            “Thank you,” Asami said as she took it. “It’s really beautiful.”

            “Yeah, I come out here to think sometimes. And today has been a strange day.”

            “Sorry for springing this whole thing on you so suddenly,” Asami said, not looking Korra in the eyes. Her eyes seemed so much bluer than they ever did before. Or maybe she just never noticed until now.

            “I don’t think there was another way of doing it.”

            “Yeah…” Asami said. “It’s just your story means so much to me. I can’t bare it ending the way it does.”

            “Me either,” Korra muttered. “So what do I do? How do I not die?”

            “Well right now, you just have to do what you’d do normally.”

            “I don’t know what that is anymore! Normal flew right out the window when you walked into my life, story, whatever.”

            “So if I didn’t show up what would you be doing?” Asami asked.

            “I’d probably be incredibly frustrated that I can’t do anything about these spirit vines that have invaded the city,” Korra grumbled.

            “You’ll keep looking until you find a solution,” Asami reassured her, so full of confidence. “In the meantime I know of some people who could use your help.”

            “Who?”

            “During Harmonic Convergence you’re decision to keep the spirit portals open changed the world,” Asami started, but Korra interrupted her.

            “I keep feeling like I made the wrong decision. I should have closed them off.”

            “Korra, you absolutely made the right decision. You changed the world! Most people just aren’t ready for that level of change. They need some time to adjust. But trust me, keeping the spirit portals open was the right idea. You gave the world airbending back!”

            “Right, you mentioned something about that before. What was that about?”

            “All over the world, as we speak, people are discovering they’re airbenders. By keeping the spirit portals open, you’ve become the mother of the new Air Nation. The first new airbenders in over a century! These new benders are going to need help, need guidance. Who better to help them out than the Avatar?”

            “You think I’d be a good teacher?” Korra asked.

            “You’d be the best,” Asami smiled. “Just have fun trying to train Bumi.”

            “Bumi’s an airbender?!” Korra yelled in surprise.

            “Oh yeah,” Asami responded. “I’m pretty sure he finds out tomorrow. I thought about telling Tenzin, but I really wanted to see the look on his face when Bumi airbends in front of him.”

            Korra laughed. “I think I like you Asami Sato.”

            “Thank you Avatar Korra.”

            Korra smiled just a little bit. “You’re not as crazy as you seem.”

            “I’d hope not.”

            “Well I should probably get to bed. If you’re right, tomorrow’s gonna be a busy day.”

            “Good night,” Asami said. “I think I’m going to stay up and watch the lights for a bit longer.”

            “Did the White Lotus give you somewhere to sleep?”

            Asami nodded.

            “Ok, good. Good night, Sami,” Korra yawned.

            “Night.” She smiled; no one ever gave her a nickname like that before. But then again, she didn’t really have many friends before.

            Asami spent the next several hours looking at the real Republic City in all its glory, wondering if it was possible, really truly possible, for her to be friends with _the Avatar_.

            Korra lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

            So much had happened today. Fictional girls and fictional worlds and the future and her death. Spirits, how was she supposed to sleep now?

            All of it started with this mysterious Asami Sato. Who was she? What did she want? Why was Korra feeling like she could trust her implicitly? Was it because she reminded her of Xiu?

            They had the same build, the same hair. Both of them were attractive. They even sounded the same.

            Ugh.

            Korra had liked Xiu, like really liked her. She thought they could have been really good friends. Or was she secretly (or not so secretly if you asked Miss Sato) hoping that they could have been more than friends?

            That betrayal had cut her deep. She still didn’t feel over it. She didn’t know if she would ever get over it.

            For hours, Korra stared up her dark ceiling, until exhaustion calmed her mind of questions by surrendering to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I promise, this is the last boring chapter of set-up. Next chapter is going to be more exciting. We'll get introduced to the Krew, things will move along, stories will start and change. This is the last chapter of slightly OOC outrageous-fangirl-Asami. She'll still gush over all the things like the fan she is, but it won't be as overt as this time.  
> Chapter updates are probably going to be much slower as I have to start rewatching book 3 and taking notes (its taken this long to get back to the show because I had to watch Daredevil first).


	4. Asami Sato: Pilot of Multiple Ships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both kinds of ships, driving lessons, and a bit about the nature of sailing the bleed.

            For the next week Korra found herself increasingly busy. There were vines everywhere. The people (and the Spirits) of Republic City were not reacting well to the change.

            She’d barely seen this mysterious Asami person. In fact, she was usually gone before Korra woke up and didn’t return until well after the Avatar turned in.

            It was weird, Korra felt like she should be keeping a closer eye on the girl who claimed to know how the story ended. She thought it was because Asami could potentially be dangerous, that was totally what it was and not for any other reason.

            So Korra was pleasantly surprised to find Asami still on Air Temple Island one morning (really it was almost the afternoon).

            “Hey,” Asami smiled. “How are you doing?”

            Korra slumped into a seat at the low table, resting her head on the wood. “Not great. Raiko is still a pain and somehow he has higher approval ratings than me.”

            “As far as I’m concerned, you have a 100% approval rating with me,” Asami said.

            “Thanks,” Korra mumbled. She looked over the girl and realized that she’d somehow managed to get different clothes. “Did you go shopping at some point?”

            “Yeah,” Asami said. “I brought some precious metals with me to barter with. I needed to get a real wardrobe and some other… surprises.”

            Now Korra could officially say she was jealous. Asami had been a part of the this world for barely a week and she had no money, no job, no family and she already had a better fashion sense than her. How does that even work?

            “How are you feeling?” Asami asked, her voice full of concern.

            “Tired, annoyed.”

            “Have you spent any time with Mako?”

            Korra dropped her gaze from the green eyes beauty. Her boyfriend had taken to sleeping at the police station. He needed to be ‘on call’ all the time now. He claimed that the spirit vines and such were causing problems all over the city. Like it was his job to deal with all of it personally. She’d only seen him a couple of times, super briefly for lunches that were always interrupted by him getting called away.

            “No.”

            “You want to take your mind off everything?” Asami asked.

            “And do what?”

            “You want to see my ship?”

            Korra nodded. She had to admit she was curious. Slowly, she was starting to come around to the idea that this Asami Sato person really wasn’t from around here. And she wanted to know how she managed to get here.

            “Sure.”

            They took a small boat to the city, where Asami hopped in a brand new lau-mobile and waited for Korra to join her.

            “Get in the car,” Asami called.

            “Car?”

            “Oh, sorry, lau-mobile. We just call them cars where I’m from,” Asami said.

            “How did you afford this?”

            “I’m very shrewd,” Asami commented. “And like I said, I brought some gold with me. I planned well ahead.”

            “I’m starting to get that impression,” Korra said. “Have you planned ahead for how to deal with whatever threat is next?”

            “Maybe,” Asami smiled as she started the car and drove it like she was born to do it.

            “Any chance you can share your plans?”

            “It’s not done yet,” she retorted. “I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

            The pair drove through the city and out towards the mountains.

            “Where are you taking me?”

            “Well it is very hard to steer a shift-ship,” Asami said. “So I didn’t really have a choice in where I landed.”

            “A what ship?”

            “Shift-ship.”

            “A what ship?”

            “Shift. Ship. Think of it like this, before you kept the spirit portals open, there was this invisible barrier between the ‘real’ world and the spirit world, right?”

            Korra nodded.

            “What would you call that barrier?”

            She was silent for a moment, the thought of calling it something had never occurred to her, because it just… was. “Uh… I have no idea.”

            “Well where I come from, we call it the bleed.”

            “The bleed? That sounds kinda gross.”

            “I guess… But it comes from the fact that occasionally, with enough force, will, or technology, you can bleed through one universe into another. Like a series of spirit worlds all stacked on top of each other. My ship allows me to travel through the bleed and push into other universes,” Asami said as she stopped the car on the outskirts of Republic City. Carefully hidden, partially inside of a hill, beneath a large camouflaged net was a large ship. It had to be twenty feet tall, fifty feet long. “This is my Sato shift-ship.”

            Korra looked on in awe. “Say that five times fast.”

            Asami smiled.

            The ship was unlike anything Korra had ever seen. The front of it kind of looked like the front of a train, narrow and coming to a point, but it was so much larger than any train Korra had ever seen. The body was bulky and round, with three fins coming off of it. The one on top was longer than the ones of the side. On the back was a large, round… hole. Asami said it was the engine.

            “This is insane,” Korra said.

            “Yeah just a bit. This is the most advanced piece of Sato Industries tech we have.”

            “And you just stole it. To come here of all places,” Korra said.

            “Yup,” Asami said as she puffed out her chest proudly.

            “Why?”

            The question stopped Asami cold. She’d come out to her ship, partially to show off to Korra, partially to get some equipment she still needed. How should she answer that? How could she answer it? The answer was hard enough for her to even think, much less say out loud and turn it into a solid truth.

            “Like I said, your story is very important to me,” Asami said as she grabbed the last of the equipment from the inside of the ship. Then she changed the subject. “You can take a look inside if you want.”

            Korra poked her head inside the ship and there weren’t nearly as many buttons as she would have guessed. There were, however, a bunch of dials and little read outs.

            “How do you even steer this thing?” she asked.

            “Uh… you don’t,” Asami said. “Not really. You just kind of point and shoot.”

            “That seems… dangerous.”

            “Yeah, it is.”

            “How long did it even take you to get here? What was that trip like?”

            Asami sighed and went back to the car. “It was long and short at the same time. You know those nights where you sleep for like fifteen hours, but it feels like you just blinked? It was like one of those but I had dreams of this swirling ocean of red and there were islands of reality dotting this swirling black and red ocean. I could reach out and touch any of the hundred thousand or more angles of the universe and find myself anywhere at all. Then all of a sudden the ocean was gone and I was here, crashed into a hill. The onboard clock that was set to the clocks back in my world said I’d been traveling for a month, but it felt like minutes.”

            “Wow,” Korra breathed. “That’s intense.”

            “Yeah,” Asami said before changing the subject once more. “You want to learn how to drive this lau-mobile?”

            “I’m not very good at it.”

            “Come on, you’re the Avatar, master of all four elements. I think you should know how to drive.”

            “Ok,” Korra shrugged.

            It took almost an hour for Korra to get the motions right. And then another hour for her to manage to drive more than twenty feet without the car jerking and shuddering. But eventually Korra was able to drive (relatively) smoothly in first gear.

            “So what else can you tell me about my story?” Korra asked, filled with curiosity.

            “I already told you how it ends, what else do you want to know?”

            “I don’t know… Tenzin have any more kids?”

            Asami laughed. “No.”

            “What about Bolin? Does he ever find someone to love?”

            “Yeah. I really like her, you’ll meet her sooner or later,” Asami said. “If you can believe it, some people shipped you with him.”

            “Shipped?”

            “Like _relation-SHIP_ ,” Asami said (Korra, 'oh'ed with realization). “People thought you and Bolin would make a good couple.”

            Korra stuck her tongue out. “Don’t get me wrong I like Bolin, he’s great. But I can’t imagine dating him.”

            “That’s what I said. But people are strange.”

            “Yeah…”

            “So can I ask you a question?” Asami asked.

            “Isn’t that what you just did?”

            “You know what I meant.”

            “Yeah go ahead.”

            “What do you really think of Mako? I mean can you see yourself with him for another two years? Ten years? Thirty?”

            Korra swallowed dryly. “I mean I like him a lot. He’s a really great guy, we get along.”

            “But do you love him?”

            Silence descended on the pair as the car drove slowly through the city.

            “Why? Who do you… ship me with?”

            Asami looked away from Korra, her cheeks flushed. She muttered something into the wind.

            “What? I can’t hear you,” Korra said, noticing the blush.

            “I thought you and Xiu would have made a better couple.” Now it was Korra’s turn to blush. “I mean her story would have had a nice redemptive arc to it. Equalist turned lover to the Avatar. And I thought it would be nice to have some bi representation in the media for once.”

            “Some what representation?” Korra managed to ask, trying to change conversation topics.

            “Bi. Bisexual, people who like both men and women,” Asami said, still not looking over at Korra. “People like me.”

            “That’s what it’s called?” Korra asked rhetorically, quietly hoping Asami didn't hear her.

            “Yeah,” Asami answer unnecessarily as Korra stopped the car where they started their journey several hours before.

            “Thanks,” Korra said. “This was… informative.”

            “You’re welcome Korra,” Asami said, still liking the way saying her name felt to say. “I’ve got some work to do here in the city for a bit.”

            “Ok, I’ll see you around,” Korra responded. She had been given a lot to think about. A lot to think about in terms of the people in her life. A lot to think about in terms of Mako, who was never really in touch with his feelings. And then there was Xiu, friend and betrayer. Asami thought she'd be better off with the girl who ripped out her heart? What is the deal with that? And then there is Asami herself. She's got Korra more confused than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been re-reading Planetary (especially Planet Fiction) to get in the mood for this (you should all totally read it, the series is finished so you don't have to do any of that pesky waiting for updates), as well as rewatching Book 3 to get plot details. I'm feeling a bit burned out, so updates are going to be slow and sporadic. Not to mention I've had a frankly INSANE weekend (and not the good kind).  
> Also I realized that since joining this site in late February, I've published almost 100,000 words. That's two NaNoWriMo's in less than two months. (And I still have like 3 MORE fic ideas to write...)  
> So I think I'll be taking my sweet time with this one. Sorry?


	5. Lessons Learned at the End of Episodes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has something to learn. Korra learns that things can be more than one way, including maybe herself. Asami learns that this world is real and the pain it can bring will be just as real. Mako learns that distance can be good or bad. Bolin learns the problem of pride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what the deal is with this chapter. Ever so loosely based off of the "Toys in the Attic" episode of Cowboy Bebop

            It came to Korra as she was trying to sleep that night. She was thinking of things being more than one thing. Real and fictional: opposites or slightly different states of being? Sexualities even made a significant appearance. But her late night musings went off into the real world problems, the tangible ones at least. What if instead of trying to fight the vines as vines she thought of them as the spirits themselves?

            The next day Korra was out bright and early (oh how she hated bright and early) to try and deal with the vines.

            Bolin, as usual, was eager to help. Partially because that was just who he was, Mr. Helpful, but also because he wanted his apartment back from the vines.

            Korra tried out the technique for healing dark spirits on the vines. The same one she got from her evil Uncle.

            At first it looked like it worked, and of course Raiko that ass had to invite the press to witness her attempt. So when it went wrong merely seconds later, everyone was there to witness it with her.

            It was a total disaster. The vines didn’t vanish, they came back with a vengeance. They even took out the building next door forcing the people to evacuate. Korra was officially out of ideas on how to deal with the vines. Nothing worked, everything had changed, and nothing was back to the way it was.

            Perhaps that was the lesson: not everything has a straight forward solution, or a solution at all.

            Multiple states, things being more than one thing. Ugh, this was so complicated.

 

* * *

 

             Asami was reveling in the world. All of the colors popped, the sounds, the sights, they were so much more real, more vibrant. Somehow sharper than anything back home for her. Hell, this place felt more like home than home.

            But the thing that was never ever translated through any of the _Avatar_ media was the smell. Oh the smells. The salty sea smell of the bay. Air Temple Island smelled of flowers and the spice garden. Like saffron and cinnamon and mint and fresh earth and the daisies and lilies. The city smelled like the sea and the numerous trees and like dense forests in areas where the spirit vines were plentiful. There were also the smells of the lau-mobiles, the asphalt, the rubber of the tires, the steam of the exhaust.

            If Asami had the time she'd probably just drive the city getting delightfully lost for hours. Instead she spent most of her time in the warehouse she rented with the airship she bought at the police auction.

            Korra deserved to travel in style, and what better style than a Sato equipped air ship?

            Even with her numerous pieces of gold, a brand new airship was well out of her price range. So she bought an old Equalist ship super cheap from the police and set about fixing it up, and more importantly tearing out all the Equalist garb.

            More than a few times she marveled at how fiction mirrored reality (or perhaps it was the other way around). The Equalists, they shared more than a little with her father. The man who built the Sato name, who was determined to make the world equal, supposedly better, by stripping it of everything great.

            He would hate that she was even here. Much less everything else she'd done. But that was in a whole other reality. One that she wouldn’t have to deal with for some time.

            The smell of the oil and metal and machine parts was the same. The little cuts on her hands and the pain from a soldering accident were the same as it always was.

            And perhaps that was the lesson: fictional didn't mean not real. Not to the people inside it.

            Asami made a mental note to stop using the word fictional, it simply couldn't apply anymore. Not when she was inside it.

            _Hehe_ , self-insert fan fiction. That's what this is. But it isn't any easier to say.

            What if this was some bizarre fan fiction, she was just a character playing out someone else's story in another universe? She assumed it was possible, and if it was possible she'd probably find whoever wrote it and punch them right in the face. Who gives her that kind of backstory? There are some things that are better left to reality, she decided, since it would be too disturbing for someone to write and craft such fictional atrocities.

            Asami shuddered at the thought. And then like she had for years, she repressed the emotion, pushed it away and concentrated on getting the engine in front of her in proper working order.

 

* * *

 

            Mako had been sleeping at the police station. Sure Korra made him an offer to stay at Air Temple Island. Sure he could be spending more time with his girlfriend.

            He finally had a job that he didn’t hate, one that let him help people out. He was a police officer, his job was important. Just as important as the Avatar’s.

            Was he being bitter? Korra dropped everything to run off and help people, ruining more than a few dates. He had to do much the same to try and keep her alive.

            Mako just wanted some space. Something less complicated, something less hectic. He wanted to know that his work was appreciated just as much as the Avatar’s.

            And there was something about his job. The longer he did it the more he recognized Korra’s hotheadedness was not an asset. Sure her spark, her passion, was part of the attraction, but how often did she dive into things unchecked or without a plan? She needs to be more careful. She’s going to get herself hurt, or worse, some day, and Mako doesn’t know if he can be there to pick up the pieces.

            The things he was feeling were seriously complicated and tumultuous. And he couldn’t think about it with Korra being right there. So he slept at the police station. Handling all the late night calls, helping people, making a difference.

            That’s what Mako does, right? Maybe that’s something he needs to learn: who Mako really is, without a girlfriend.

            The lesson he hadn’t quite learned yet was: sometimes he needed space, which is perfectly healthy and acceptable, but sometimes asking for too much space in a relationship is simply a holding pattern for a breakup.

 

* * *

 

            Bolin, when not helping out Korra, had been watching the airbender children. And he was currently in the bathroom weeping.

            Kya had steadfastly refused to help in any way, shape, or form.

            It might not have helped that he asked her to use her "devil magic" to heal him.

            The lesson Bolin most definitely learned was that he was never eating anything Meelo challenged him to eat. No matter how much pride may have been on the line.

 

* * *

 

             Asami was just about to call it a night when she saw Korra's blue glider fly overhead. She was heading towards the bridge. This was it. Asami knew what was coming, she'd seen the episode enough times.

            Not wanting to miss seeing Korra in action she jumped in the car and sped over to Kyoshi Bridge.

            She got there just in time to see Korra dive off the top of the bridge and catch the scared brand new airbender.

            Asami's heart was lodged in her throat. Even though she knew the outcome, she knew the dangers, the risks, how it would turn out, she could probably calculate the velocity of the fall if she wasn't quietly panicking inside.

            Seeing it in front of her, from the ground, having to look up and watch Korra free fall, made everything so much more insane.

            And for a moment, Asami wondered what would happen if Korra didn't save the man? What if something went wrong?

            It was in that moment that she knew how real everything was here. She knew that every injury she sustained would hurt and heal. If she died here she wouldn't wake up at her apartment with the show playing in the background. No, she was here in the fiction. It was real now; she'd made it more real than it had ever been.

            Everything had changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next episode on "The Price of Changing Her Story": Asami Sato meets Bolin and lots of questions are asked, Korra gets ready to leave Republic City, and a very important meeting is set up.
> 
> I said I'd be updating more sporadically and then I got SUPER bored at work yesterday, so I wrote... whatever the hell this is. I couldn't help but make a fanfiction reference (there will probably be more). And yes, I did reference Asami punching me out if she had the chance. Because I am not a nice writer-god.  
> Also I don't know why it was taking me so damn long to introduce Mako and Bolin properly. I keep going, "this is it, this is the chapter the krew gets together." And then I actually sit down to write it and that's not what happens. So I kind of forced them into this one. Bolin for slight comic relief  
> So yeah... next time some of the mysterious layers of Asami Sato start to get pulled away.


	6. Questions for Asami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questions. Bolin is full of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm editing this from the bar. I hope you appreciate this.

            Korra had been kicked out of Republic City by that asshole Raiko. Asami was tempted to tell him what she knew of his story, how the history would remember him, but she thought better of it. The only people who knew her other worldly origins were Korra and Tenzin. Who knows how Raiko would react to that news? He’d probably just screw things up.

            Korra had pretty quickly come up with the idea of crisscrossing the earth kingdom to recruit the new airbenders.

            The krew was meeting on Air Temple Island to discuss the best way of doing it.

            Asami knew they would eventually settle on a road trip. Taking trains, renting lau-mobiles, walking, and she knew how tense that would make everyone. So she decided to change the canon a bit. Thus the airship.

            It was also the first time she met Bolin. Well, really met him. He was usually with Korra helping with the vines, or otherwise occupied. Since Asami had spent almost a week fixing the air ship, she hadn't gotten a chance to interact with him at all.

            His hands were calloused and rough. He handshake wasn't nearly as crushing as she would have thought. He smelled like a gardener, a mixture of sweetness, sweat, and freshly filled earth.

            Asami liked the goofball. And he was fascinated by her. He wanted to know everything about her, and Asami was reluctant to share. Her life she left wasn't much of a life at all.

            Her initial plan was to just answer as vaguely as possible. But then she noticed that Korra was listening intently. The Avatar had realized that she’d been incredibly selfish when it came to Asami. She’d only been concerned about fixing her life, story, whatever. She'd learned almost nothing about the mysterious woman who jumped universes to help her.

            “So where are you from?” Bolin asked, while keeping steady eye contact with Asami.

            She snorted, a sound that signified ‘you wouldn’t believe me if I told you’ to Korra, “far way away from here. You wouldn’t recognize it if I told you.”

            Bolin looked hurt, “Try me.”

            “A place called Tokyo, on the island of Japan.”

            “Yup, never heard of it. That in the fire nation?”

            Asami thought for a moment then shrugged. “Might as well be.”

            “What about your family?” he asked.

            Asami looked away. “It’s just me and my dad. But we don’t talk much anymore.”

            Bolin, for once, picked up on the cue to not ask about the family. He understood, at least partially. But Korra, poor oblivious Korra, who had more family than anyone else (Bolin, Mako, Tenzin, Pema, the kids, her actual parents, Bumi, Kya, Lin who was kind of that surly aunt) didn’t get it. So she asked, “What about your mom?”

            Asami stared hard at the floor. “She died when I was real young.”

            Bolin shot a ‘really? You went _there_?’ look at Korra, who shrugged a ‘what?’ in response.

            “So what do you do?” Bolin asked.

            “I’m an engineer primarily,” Asami said. “I build and take apart machines.”

            “Ooh, what kind of machines?”

            “Stuff that’s more advanced than cutting edge,” Asami smiled. It almost looked like she was excited to try and terrify Bolin with the extreme theoretical machines she’s built.

            “What goes beyond cutting edge? I thought that was the most advanced stuff you could get…”

            “The kind of stuff that only exists in the future,” Asami said.

            “Oh,” Bolin responded with a wide eyed grin. “Like what?”

            “Ships that can go to other planets in moments, computers that exist in actual three dimensions instead of the mere imitation of 3D we perceive,” Asami said.

            “You lost me.”

            “Yeah, me too,” Asami laughed. “I just build the things. I only have two doctorates in engineering, and one in regular physics. Not the pseudo-physics that is half-theory, half-made up on the fly, stuff by the people up stairs who actually do the math and plan the stuff. I just build it and make it work.”

            “What’s this doctorate thing?” Bolin asked.

            Asami had forgotten that traditional college hadn’t yet made it into existence here. “It means I completed a course of study in a particular field that usually takes six to eight years.”

            “Holy crap and you have three of them?! How old are you?”

            Korra turned around now, unable to pretend she wasn’t fully invested.

            Asami smiled at her, “I’m only twenty. I completed two doctorates when I was fifteen, and got my third at seventeen. After the first two it was easy.”

            Bolin’s mouth was hanging open. “So you are some kind of super, future-genius?”

            “Basically.”

            “Wow!” he said in awe. And for a few seconds there was silence. “So you got a boyfriend or something?”

            “Why? Are you trying to flirt with me Bolin?” Asami asked as she batted her eye lashes at him, causing Bolin to blush and begin mumbling incoherently. He didn’t mean it that way, and then it was suddenly turned on him at he didn’t know entirely what to do. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend. I haven’t had a serious one since I was in school. I’ve had a couple of flings with some of other engineers I worked with. No one in my department thought. I did sort of have a relationship with one of the project leads, but she didn’t want anything too serious. She gets bored too easily for one steady relationship.” Bolin’s look of extreme confusion prompted her to continue, “I like boys and girls.”

            Bolin made a long, “Ooooh.” Before nodding. “I can understand that. There are lots of beautiful people out there. That must be hard for you! I mean just look at the people in this room! You’ve got beautiful me,” Bolin said as he flexed his muscles and waggled his eyebrows. “And Korra over here. How could you possibly chose one of us?”

            Asami chuckled. “No offense Bo, but I think Korra’s more my taste.”

            “Nah, I get it. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. I’m too hot for some,” he said confidently before leaving the room.

            Korra, meanwhile, was blushing like mad and went back to not looking directly at Asami.

            “You can relax Korra,” Asami said. “I’m not going to pounce on you. I know you and Mako are a thing, and you aren’t big on the whole girl love thing.”

            “I… uh... you… thanks,” Korra said, although it sounded almost like a question.

            “And you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to get around the Earth Kingdom. I have that problem already solved. We can leave tomorrow.”

            Korra shifted nervously and looked down at her hands. “Can we leave the day after tomorrow?”

            “Whenever you want,” Asami said. “You’re the Avatar. You call the shots.”

            “I just have… something to do.”

            “Do you want to talk about it?”

            Korra shook her head.

            “Well if you need anything, let me know,” Asami said as she made her way to her room.

            “I’m going to visit Xiu in prison tomorrow,” Korra said, quiet enough for Asami to barely hear her.


	7. Admissions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra visits Xiu Lau-Gan in prison and attempts to get answers to questions both asked and unasked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing another burst of super rapid updating.  
> 1\. Because I was ungodly bored at work yesterday (nothing beats getting tipped half the time and for a whopping 7%! >:C)  
> 2\. Also because my computer has been acting the fool lately and I need to do some debugging/cleaning/taking apart/putting back together and I have no idea how long it is going to take.
> 
> So I hope you enjoy meeting the (hopefully sole) OC in my story.

            Korra was nervous. She didn't know if she was ready to see Xiu. Somehow it felt too soon. But the girl had been on her mind too much recently to ignore it. She had too many questions that needed answers.

            Everything had changed. Maybe it was time to talk about what had happened. It had been two years.

            As Korra waited at the prison she didn't know if she had forgiven Xiu. She didn't know if she was strong enough for that. The surprise attack caught Korra unaware. The shock glove incapacitated her and Xiu was halfway to Amon before Korra woke up.

            Even as it was happening, as she realized that Xiu had betrayed her, she still couldn’t fight her. The only thing Korra could do was escape. Maybe it would have been better for Korra to have stayed and fight then. Instead she fought Xiu at the bending arena, where Amon hosted his Revelation.

            The look of pain and betrayal on Xiu’s face when she not only lost to Korra, but it was revealed that Amon truly was a bloodbender haunted Korra for weeks.

            It hurt so much back then. The wound had healed. Well, maybe not, but at least it had scabbed over.

            "Avatar," Xiu said as she sat down on the other side of the glass partition. She was in a bright orange jumpsuit. Her once luxurious brown hair was dull and filled with split ends. She didn't have her signature perfect makeup on. And Xiu looked tired.

            "Xiu it's been a long time," Korra said awkwardly as she shifted in her uncomfortable seat.

            "25 months, 14 days. But I think my count might be a little off," the paler woman said bitterly. "It can be really hard to tell the passage of time in prison."

            "I'm sorry," Korra said automatically.

            "Spare me," the cold hazel eyes bore into her. "What did you come all the way down here for? And don't tell me it was to apologize."

            Korra tried to think of something to say. "How did it all go so wrong? What happened between us?"

            "Circumstances of birth," Xiu said as a matter-of-factly. "You are the Avatar, I am an Equalist. Natural enemies."

            "It didn't have to be this way," Korra said. "You could have helped us fight Amon. We could have been friends."

            "Weren't we friends before?"

            "I think you answered that pretty thoroughly when you attacked me."

            For the first time Xiu looked away. The cold, bitter exterior started to crumble away. "I was only doing what I thought I had to."

            "Why? That's what I came here to try and understand," Korra told the half-truth. "Why did you need to do that? Why throw out everything we had, could have had?"

            "You never had to feel the pain of losing a loved one," Xiu said. "You never had to hold someone you cared about as they died. The pain is unimaginable. Especially when you were as young as I was. I was raised by my father, the Equalists were his movement. The movement basically replaced my mother. How do you turn against something that practically raised you? Could you fight the White Lotus and everyone in it?"

            Korra's jaw tightened. That would mean fighting Tenzin, her parents. She couldn't do that. It would also be awkward to fight Fire Lord Zuko, since he was like a hundred years old.

            "You couldn't and you know it," Xiu answered for Korra.

            "That was the only option for you? You couldn't have told me or quit or just not ambushed me?"

            Hazel eyes turned hard once more. But not the kind of hardness that is readying for a fight, the kind that is fighting against the coming tears.

            "There's a lot I would change if I could," Xiu said. "If I could ever find a way of doing it over again, I would. And I wouldn't hurt you the next time around."

            Korra offered a sad smile. "Thanks, I think?"

            Xiu could only nod. "I told you before, but I want you to hear it again: I'm sorry for the way things turned out. The thing is… I did like you Korra, I really did."

            The hairs on Korra's arms stood up. She felt the room grow suddenly cold. "Like as friends? Or..."

            The sentence would remain forever unfinished.

            "Visiting time is almost over," a guard said from behind Korra.

            "You're cute and funny and hot headed and stubborn and you really do want to help people. But I have an inherited hatred I just can't shake. Maybe in the next life I can have a do over," Xiu said as she was stood up by the guard who started to escort the prisoner out. "Maybe we could have been friends for a moment, or maybe we..."

            Anything else was cut off as the guard led her through the door. The metal slammed shut as Xiu yelled out, "Goodbye Korra!"

            Korra took a moment to calm herself. Her hands were shaking. She felt cold and her skin was prickly. Asami was right. Xiu did like her. She kind of like Xiu, a little bit. Maybe.

            It felt like her entire world view shifted. Or maybe snapped into focus. No, it was more like a picture from a different angle. The subject was still the same but now she had a more complete idea of what the pictures contained.

            Korra left the prison in a daze.

            "Hey," called a voice, breaking Korra out of her revere.

            She looked up and saw Asami sitting on the hood of her lau-mobile.

            "How are you doing?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

            Korra gave a noncommittal shrug.

            "Well I figured you could use a ride back," Asami said as she jumped into the front seat. "Hop in."

            They rode in silence for a while. Korra stared out at the passing street lights, apparently lost in thought.

            "If you want to talk now, or ever," Asami said softly, almost afraid to break the reverent kind of silence, "I'm here. I'll listen and I won't judge. You know, if you feel like it."

            "Ok," Korra mumbled and they drove on.

            Nothing else was said until they reached the docks.

            "You want to hear back to the island?" Asami asked. "Or we can go to Narook's for some food or something."

            Korra shook her head as she looked out over the bay. "I just kinda want to sit here for a bit."

            "You want some company or would you rather sit alone?"

            "Some company would be nice."

            Asami sat next to Korra after taking off her shoes and socks. The taller woman dangled her toes in the water.

            "What was it like?" Korra asked. "When you knew you liked both men and women?"

            Asami nodded. "It was a confusing point in my life. I was the youngest kid in college, barely even seventeen. This girl who was my TA, she was like a teacher but she was a student, was helping me out a lot with my thesis. And I kind of found myself going back to her for help over and over again, even though I didn't need it. Eventually she snapped at me for monopolizing all of her time. I think her actual words were, "goddamn it girl, if you wanted to date me all you had to do was ask me for coffee. Fuck!" I was so embarrassed. It wasn't until she said the word date that the idea even crossed my mind. It just... didn't seem like it was a possibility. I ran away and didn't see her for a week. Once I realized I was bi, it just kind of... Made sense? I don't know how to say it. It was a little scary to admit it to myself, but once I did everything just seemed a little clearer. That's also to say that it doesn't go the same way for everybody."

            "No..." Korra mumbled. "I get it. That makes sense."

            "Xiu give you lots to think about?" Asami asked.

            Korra just nodded.

            The quiet between them, only interrupted by the gently rolling waves lapping at the docks, stretched on for a bit.

            "You know," Asami whispered, "you don't have to worry about coming out. If that's what you feel you need to do, or not, or whatever. Not like I did. You have people who love and care about you."

            "Thanks Asami."

            "And just for the record, it's ok to like girls more than boys or boys more than girls. Or only like boys 10% of the time, or 60% of the time, or whatever. You know, if any of this applies. Unless it doesn't and I'll just shut up now."

            Korra smiled and leaned into Asami and bumped her shoulder with her own. "No, I needed to hear all that. Thank you for just... Everything."

            "It's the least I could do."

            Korra took a deep breath, held it for a time, and then said to the bay, "I'm bi."

            The waves sounded like the water was applauding her.

            "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Asami asked.

            Korra smiled, a real, genuine eye crinkling smile. "Nope!"

            "Well I'm getting a bit cold, my feet feel like sea prunes, and I'm kinda hungry. Want to hit up Narook's for some food before heading back?" Asami asked.

            Korra looked at Asami, for the first time all night really, truly looked at her. The moon light shined softly off her dark hair, her green eyes reflected the bay. _Uh oh._

            "I have to break up with Mako," Korra breathed the realization out into the world. "It's unfair to him."

            "Whoa! You're jumping forward a couple of steps there Korra," Asami said. "Just because you know something new about yourself doesn't change your relationship at all."

            "But it does," Korra said. "I'm not really in love with him. We are just kind of stringing each other along. Especially if I realize that I kind of like girls more." _I like someone else, maybe, kinda, a bit, it's you, maybe, a little._

            "You do whatever is best for you," Asami said, completely failing to grasp the truth of what Korra was saying, how she was looking at her. Her mind was only on how they were already deviating from the canon. "I'll be here to support you whatever you do."

            "What if I decide to start eating babies?"

            "I'll be quite upset," Asami said with a wry smile. "But only if you don't invite me to join you."

            The comment caught Korra so off guard that laughter burst from her and flew across the quite bay.

            "Oh man, Asami. You're something else."

            "Ok, but seriously," she said, smile fading from her face, eyebrows narrowing in seriousness. "I'm cold and hungry, can we please get some midnight noodles?"

            Korra smiled. "You really know the fastest way to my heart."

            "Don't confuse my selfish desire for food with altruism."

            "Whatever Asami Sato."

            Korra wrapped her arms around Asami as they walked back to the car. "Thanks again."

            "No problem," Asami muttered thankful for Korra's warmth and the contact.

            "It was a huge problem, if I understood any part of the whole multiverse thing on said."

            "Holy shit you did listen to me."

            "Any reason I wouldn't?" Korra asked.

            Asami smiled and started the car. "No, it just means you're a better friend than anyone who could have considered themselves such back home."

            "What about that girl you said you were in a relationship with?"

            "That doesn't count. We just kind of hook up sometimes. It isn't even like a standing date, it's just a when she feels like it kinda thing."

            "Aww, I'm sorry."

            "Don't be. It's not your fault."

            "Well I'm your friend now so it's all good, right?"

            "Yeah... Although to be honest I probably would have killed for a girlfriend like you."

            "You wouldn't have to kill to get a girl like me."

            "Really?"

            "Yeah! All you’d have to do would be flip that wonderful hair of yours and bat your eyes a little. Maybe buy some midnight noodles."

            Asami laughed as she parked the car. "Well I'll let you know how that goes." She totally did one of those gorgeous hair flips as she left the car, and it was only 80% out of habit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah oblivious Asami. You need to wake up and smell what Korra's got for you.  
> Also with this update I officially passed the 100,000 word mark. Wooo! Party time!


	8. Sleeping and Travel Arrangments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami shows Korra the ship. Travel and sleeping arrangements are being decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this while "watching" Man of Stupid... I mean Steel. So I don't really have full presence of mind to edit properly. I'm so confused by this stupid movie.

            The look on Korra’s face when Asami flew up to Air Temple Island in a massive airship still fitted with Equalist colors, if not the symbols, was priceless. She almost exactly mirrored Tenzin’s expression from when Bumi spontaneously airbended a few nights ago.

            Utter jaw dropping surprise with wide unbelieving eyes, followed quickly by a mixture of happiness and something akin to pride.

            Asami smiled as she descended the plank to the ground and saw Korra’s expression.

            “And now Team Avatar can travel in style,” she announced.

            “Really?” Korra asked in disbelief.

            “Yup, this is all yours,” Asami said. “I bought it from the police department and spent the last week fixing it up.”

            “And by fixing up you mean making improvements?” Korra countered. She might have only known Asami for like a week, but she knew how much the woman liked to tinker, to build.

            Asami looked down at her hands, almost in shame, “Yeah… You want a tour?”

            “I’d love one!” Korra said as she bounded up the ramp and into the ship proper.

            “I didn’t have time to give it a coat of paint, but I did remove all the Equalist emblems,” Asami said as she led Korra through the metal hallways towards the bridge.

            “You did all of that, in a week?” Korra asked. Then she gasped when they got to the bridge.

            It was immaculate. Perfectly clean, looking brand new. Although it looked like Asami had mad-engineered some new things into the consoles. Some of the still dull metal instruments gave way to elegant, sleek, and shiny readouts and dials and things that looked utterly foreign to the rest of the ship.

            “Yeah, I had to redo some of the paneling and I had to take a part, clean, retool, oil, and make each of the six engines better,” Asami explained, again sounding embarrassed.

            “Spirits Asami. What could you do in a month? Turn this thing into a boat too?” Korra said in absolutely awe as she looked over the numerous buttons and levers.

            Asami paused in thought for a second. “I think I would need a month and half to turn this thing into a submarine. Just a boat to float on the water… an extra four days. Maybe.”

            “Wow,” Korra breathed. “You’re amazing. You’re like a wizard, or a machine bender!”

            The pale woman blushed.

            “Did you take stuff from your ship and put it in here?” Korra asked as she inspected the pieces that clearly didn’t fit.

            “We needed an auto-pilot system, and some defenses,” Asami defended herself unnecessarily.

            “What’s that?”

            “It means the ship will fly itself. Not like it will navigate around mountains and land, but it will keep it level and flying in a straight line if we have an emergency or something,” Asami said.

            “Impressive. What kind of defenses did you put in here?”

            “Nothing too lethal,” Asami shrugged.

            Korra finally got to the big red button that was recently installed near the pilot’s chair and wheel. A note tapped over it said in a barely legible scrawl, “DO NOT PRESS. EVERYONE ABOARD WILL DIE!”

            She pointed it out to Asami and said, “Over dramatic?”

            “Only a little,” she responded. “It is a boosting mechanic. When it works and you press it, all six turbines will immediately speed up and give the ship an extreme boost in speed, that is only temporary. I haven’t gotten everything properly tuned and connected yet, so pressing it now will likely shake the ship apart.”

            “That doesn’t sound good.”

            “And then it’ll explode.”

            “Right, no pressing the button,” Korra said.

            “What do you want to see next? The workshop? I put in a little tiny gym for you to train. I also have the various bedrooms. The observation deck,” Asami rattled off, but before she could continue Korra gave her a hug. “What’s this for?”

            “Thank you! I was starting to resign myself to traveling on foot with Bolin. Do you know what a nightmare that would have been?”

            “I have a vague idea,” Asami said, briefly returning the hug.

            “Ok, where to next? Let’s just do whatever’s closest.”

            Asami showed Korra (in order) the bedrooms, the little gym she had installed with mats and bending targets, the observation deck along the back that currently offered an amazing view of Avatar Aang’s statue, and finally the workshop at the bottom of the ship.

            “So this is where I’ll be able to find you when you’re not flying the ship?” Korra asked.

            The work space was already littered with tools and wires and pieces of scrap metal and sheets of paper.

            Again, Asami blushed. “Probably yeah.”

            “Is that an Equalist shock glove?” Korra asked.

            “Whoa! Don’t touch that!” Asami yelled as she practically dove across the table to grab the glove before Korra could poke at it.

            “Is it going to kill me?” Korra asked after jumping back in surprise.

            “Possibly. This isn’t an Equalist glove from here…” Asami said, once again avoiding Korra’s bright blue eyes. “I made it myself… back home.”

            “What’s so different about it?”

            Asami slipped it on and turned the dial. The electricity danced across the glove like it would normally. “Pick up that long piece of metal,” Asami instructed.

            Korra nodded and held out the three foot piece of metal like a sword.

            Asami turned the dial a bit further, and the electricity stopped dancing across the glove. This time it arced out in a straight line. The energy created a kind of short, blue, sword looking thing.

            She swung her gloved hand across the metal pipe which was cut in half by the energy blade.

            “Spirits,” Korra said in shock as she looked at the broken, short piece of metal in her hand.

            “Ok now throw it at me,” the other girl instructed as she turned the dial once more.

            The air between them felt like it was filled with static electricity. Radiating out of Asami’s glove was a haze of blue, almost like a bubble around her.

            Korra tossed the metal pipe gently, like she would toss something to baby Rohan.

            The metal bounced off the barely visible bubble and clattered to the ground noisily.

            “It’s not quite done yet,” Asami said. “I’m still having some issues with the plasma constructs and the energy output. And then there is the issue with the battery… If you use the glove too much the battery might melt… or explode.”

            “Spirits,” Korra breathed. “Lots of stuff could potentially explode around you, can’t it?”

            “That’s how you know it’s fun!” Asami smiled. “Come on, let’s get everything ready so we can take off!”

 

* * *

 

             With the tour concluded, Korra and Asami returned outside. From there they were accompanied by Bolin, Tenzin, and Bumi who helped them all bring everyone's luggage and later food aboard.

            Once all that was done, the group decided to break for lunch. It was also coincidentally when Mako arrived.

            "Hey, Korra, you got a minute to talk?" he asked.

            "Yeah, what's up?" she asked as they stepped aside.

            "Have you been to visit Xiu?"

            Korra instantly went on her guard. "Why?" she snapped.

            "I was worried. You didn't exactly take her betrayal well. She's still dangerous."

            "Ignoring the fact that you are keeping tabs on me, why should you care? She's in prison."

            "What she did affected all of us. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

            "Hurt by what? She's in prison! I went there for closure, to sort out the feelings I've been ignoring since her betrayal. Not something you'd likely know about."

            "You weren't the only one she betrayed!"

            "I know that! But what did my visit have to do with you?"

            "Were you going to tell me?"

            Korra folded her arms in front of her chest, "Were you going to give me a chance to tell you?"

            The couple glared at each other for a minute.

            "Mako, and I want the truth when I ask this, do you love me?"

            His mouth snapped open to respond but the look in Korra's eyes silenced his knee jerk response. "I..."

            Her lips twitched. "It's ok, I know. We just don't really work together as a couple, do we?"

            Mako shook his head.

            "We make such better friends, I think," Korra said. "I don't think that either of us are what the other needs out of a relationship. Do you?"

            Mako let out a deep sigh, his mind was telling him to fight it, to fight this, but his heart was just feeling relieved. "No, I don't think we work as a couple. We've practically been broken up for the last couple of weeks anyways, with the amount of time we've spent together."

            "Yeah..." Korra sighed. "So for good this time?"

            "Yeah, we're done for good."

            "Still friends?"

            Mako nodded but didn't say anything.

            "I know this is awkward timing, but if you still want to come with us to find the new airbenders there is plenty of space on the air ship," Korra said.

            "I think we could both use some time apart," Mako said. "But I've got you a map of locations I've heard of airbenders popping up."

            "Thank you," Korra said as she gave Mako a hug. "Bolin's going to be disappointed you aren't coming with."

            "Yeah... I'll talk to him."

            "If you want Pema made lunch for everybody."

            “Hey guys!” Asami called, hoping they hadn’t noticed her awkwardly overhearing their conversation. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, it just kind of happened. She didn’t hear the whole thing, just the end of the break up. “Lunch is going to be gone by the time you get there. Hurry up!”

            Asami turned around to leave the couple in peace, trying to avoid them seeing her smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot! She thickens!


	9. Certain Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami admits to certain truths, and Korra gets some insight into the woman Asami Sato and the world she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't tell if this chapter has any errors or not because I'm running on like 3 hours of sleep. So yeah...

            The trip was going very well so far. Asami’s airship was making excellent time across the Earth Kingdom. Much faster than Team Avatar would have made otherwise. Naga was reacting well to flying, her tongue lolling as she caught the breeze on the observation deck.

            Asami had taken the role of pilot, since no one else was really qualified to fly the ship.

            Bolin had worn himself out trying to explore the ship. He still desperately wanted to check out Asami’s workshop, but a sign saying, “NO ENTRY: YOU’LL DIE (seriously you’ll probably die)” with a crude picture of an angry fire breathing Asami (as drawn by Korra) was enough to deter him for now, but also made him impossibly curious.

            But once Korra explained why he shouldn’t touch the big red button (explosions, death) his curiosity was satiated.

            Jinora was mostly reading or helping coach her Uncle Bumi in airbending, while Tenzin looked on.

            Mako had declined the initial offer to join them. Which had worried Asami, he was going to be needed for the plot to continue as it was supposed to, but she knew that Korra needed her space from “shark-brows”, so she didn’t say anything.

            However, Bolin convinced him to join up with them in a town just outside Republic City’s jurisdiction in a week or so. It would be the best of all worlds: Mako would have time apart from Korra (and vise versa), he’d have time to wrap up his police work and use his accrued vacation time, Korra could talk up Asami without her ex hanging around (although she told no one about that part of the plan).

            The first two days, Korra watched Asami pilot the ship. The green eyed woman was more than happy to explain how things worked, what did what, how she fixed it, and Korra listened with rapt attention, asking questions, absorbing everything. The way she talked, how she stole glances at Korra, the way she tried to talk with her hands but could only use one at a time (since she still had to steer the ship).

            Asami was usually on the bridge for most of the trip. The Avatar would often bring her food, made by hand in the small kitchen behind the bridge. It was always accepted gratefully, and Korra half suspected that without her bringing food, Asami would forget to eat.

            They reached the first town on the beginning of the third day. Tenzin and the gang went out to try and recruit the new air bender, a father and farmer. It went about as well as Asami expected.

            She told the group to go on ahead without her, and that she was going to get some rest, since it seemed like she did nothing but fly the ship.

            When they returned from the less than successful recruitment drive, Korra found Asami decidedly not asleep, and tinkering in her workshop.

            “Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Korra asked.

            “I needed to unwind first,” Asami said without looking up from her project. “Tinkering helps relax me, let’s me get right to sleep.”

            Korra sat next to Asami on the bench and watched her put pieces of her Equalist glove back together.

            “Can I ask a question?” Korra asked.

            “Sure.”

            “Why do you look away when I ask about your inventions?”

            She didn’t respond. Not at first. For a long moment, Asami just focused on her work.

            "Most people... I mean, where I come from... they don't care," Asami said. "I'm constantly surrounded by very smart people, some of the smartest on the planet. We've all got our own projects, our own worries, things to build, to fix, to study, understand, whatever. They don't care what anyone else is building for the company or on their free time. Anytime I bring up what I'm doing I always got brushed off or ignored or told to shut up. Then when anyone asks how my own projects are going it's not like they really care. It is either like asking how the weather is or it is so that I can ask them how their own projects are going. I got it from my father at an early age and I get it from all the people I work with. And I learned to never speak about personal projects. It is bad form to discuss personal projects on company time."

            Korra looked at the woman beside her with concern. "Wow, that sucks."

            Asami just nodded as she set down her tools. It was old hat, something she came to expect a long time ago.

            "Well just know that I care. If you ever want to talk about anything you're doing," Korra said with a reassuring hand placed on top of Asami's. "I'm gonna go make some dinner if you want to eat something."

            "I'll be up in a few minutes."

            The next day, after taking off, Asami let Korra fly the ship. It was so much easier than driving. All she had to do was keep it level and not crash into any mountains.

            They made it to the next town just before night fall. Asami landed the ship and the team set out to find a potential new recruit, and once again she stayed behind.

            From there they settled into a sort of pattern. Flying during the day, stopping at towns during the night, Tenzin failed to recruit any air benders, and Korra watched Asami tinker in her workshop or trained with Bolin.

            After they were out for a week, the group had to double back a bit to collect Mako who would be waiting at one of the border towns between the Republic and the Earth Kingdom.

            The picked up the fire bender after Tenzin failed to recruit another air bender.

            That night the family style dinner was awkward. It was the first time Asami and Mako had ever really been in the same room. And of course, he was instantly suspicious of her. Korra didn't exactly give him an explanation as to who she was, and he hadn't been present for Bolin's interrogation.

            Even Korra's trust in Asami and everyone more or less vouching for her, wasn't enough for the police officer. And he wouldn't be so easily swayed by "I'm from a place you wouldn't be familiar with."

            "So what do you do?" Mako asked her as plates were cleared away.

            "I build machines."

            “What kind of machines?”

            Asami looked away. “High end stuff. Prototypes for various devices.”

            "Who do you work for?"

            She sighed. "Not a company you would have heard of."

            "Try me."

            "I work for Sato Industries which is a subsidiary of Future Industries, which is owned and controlled by The Four."

            "None of those are real companies," he retorted confidentially.

            "Not here."

            "Then where?"

            "No where you would have heard of."

            "That's not helpful. Why are you here?"

            Asami rolled her eyes. "To help Korra. You guys are seriously lacking in the tech and non-bender arenas. So I'm here to fill those gaps."

            Mako's sharp eyebrows narrowed. "How do I know I can trust you?"

            "You can't. But you're on my ship and I haven't hurt anyone yet. Unless you touch buttons that you shouldn't."

            Asami stood up and walked away.

            "Korra," Mako said as he cornered her later. "What about this girl makes you trust her? She's clearly lying about something. She's dangerous and you know nothing about her."

            "Tenzin and I both checked her out," Korra sighed. Mako’s protective streak can be very annoying at times. "She's a little out there, but I don't think she means us any harm."

            "Well, watch your back."

 

* * *

 

            Another week of traversing the earth kingdom came and went before anything really changed.

            Korra should have known something was coming, because when she went to see if Asami was still up and tinkering from where they stopped the ship for the night (Asami is a great pilot but she wasn't too keen on flying through the night unaided and sleepy). Except she wasn't in the workshop tinker or asleep on the desk (or in the small cot shoved in the corner that acted as her rarely used bed).

            She wasn't on the bridge either. Now Korra was confused and concerned. Asami never claimed one of the bedrooms, so unless something changed her mind she wasn't in any of the usual haunts. The kitchen was empty.

            Korra started to walk the halls of the airship quickly. Faster than a standard walk, and just below a panicked run.

            After a half hour of searching Korra found Asami on the top level of the observation deck, looking across the expanse of the Earth Kingdom in the darkness.

            Korra tried to slow her breathing before approaching the woman, as to make it look like she hadn't been sprinting through the ship desperately looking for her.

            "Hey, something wrong?" Korra asked as she joined Asami at looking at the stars.

            Asami paused before shaking her head. "Not really."

            "Well I just learned something new about you," Korra mused. She bumped Asami with her shoulder, "you are a terrible liar."

            "Sorry," Asami muttered. "I guess I didn't put that much effort into it."

            "You know you can talk to me right? You don't have to hide anything from me," Korra said to be reassuring.

            The response wasn't what she was expecting. "Yes. I do."

            She was dumbstruck. "What?"

            "Mako was right. You know nothing about me and I am lying. Not straight out lying, but lies through omission. I don't want it to be like this," she ended the utterance with a sigh. "I wish I could tell you things, but then I'm pretty sure you'd turn your back on me."

            Korra didn't know what to say to that.

            A quiet grew in between them. The longer they said nothing the greater the distance grew. The pair might have been in close proximity, but they might as well have been miles apart.

            Then just as the distance was about to reach impassable lengths, Korra spoke, "I don't care. Whatever you were before or whatever you did, was another world away. You came here to change things, and maybe change yourself along the way. Things are different now."

            Asami sighed and looked Korra in the eyes for the first time since she joined her. "You're right. As usual. Does it ever get tiring being right all the time?"

            Korra shook her head. “Nope!”

            "How about this," Asami asked before she took a deep breath, "how about you get one topic that you can ask me anything you want and I have to answer it? One topic a day."

            "How about one every time we get some time off, up to one a day," Korra modified the deal because of the distressed look on Asami's face. She didn't seem thrilled with the prospect.

            "I think I can manage that. Do you want to start now?"

            "Only if you want to," Korra responded.

            Asami gave her a look that only said, "if you say no we'll never get this going."

            "Ok, how about an easy one? Family can't be that hard."

            Asami swallowed hard. Then she nodded.

            "Got any siblings?"

            "Not that I know of," Asami answered. "My dad got remarried after mom died and I haven’t talked to him since. That was three years ago."

            "What's your mom's name?"

            "Yasuko."

            "Pretty name."

            Korra knew that this was going to be a sore subject and she regretted picking it first. But at the same time it seemed to be the only time she'd get answers out of Asami.

            "Why'd you stop talking to your dad?"

            Asami took a deep breath to steel herself. "Everything went sideways when mom died. Dad sold control of the family company to an outside force. He grew distant and our company turned sinister. Once I was out of school the first time I started seriously working at the company. I... found out... what was really going on there. I never bothered to confront my father about it, because of course he knew. He had ceased to be the man I knew, I loved. Maybe he never was that man. Then he got remarried and we never talk."

            "I'm sorry," Korra whispered.

            "It's not your fault," Asami said. "You had no part of it."

            Korra waited a moment for Asami to catch her breath and regain her composure. "What was your mom like?"

            She offered a sad smile. "She was great. Kind, loving, smarter than me, gentler too. She wanted Future Industries to be a beacon of hope for the world. Her dream was to help as many people as possible with the company. Make better, cheaper hospital equipment; or better prosthetics for people who lost limbs, that kind of thing. Helping people was her goal. She basically invented new fields of study. Genius doesn't begin to describe my mom."

            "You sound like you loved her a lot."

            "I did."

            Korra tried to wet her lips for her next question but her mouth was dry. "How..."

            Asami knew the question. "My mother found out what my father was up to with the company. She said she refused to be a part of it. She threatened to leave him, expose every dirty secret, to take her talents to Planetary, a rival corporation to actually help people. They had her killed for it," Asami said. "I found out all of this much later. But she was burned to death. By a man who was like a fire bender on steroids."

            "Like a combustion bender?"

            Asami shook her head. "You know how you have to create fire? You use the energy in your body and channel it out as fire? This guy is fire. His entire body becomes engulfed in flames and he can direct them at will. He killed my mother for talking out of turn. Technically she was alive for six days in the hospital before her burns killed her."

            Korra leaned over and put her arms around Asami. She didn't say anything, she just held onto Asami for as long as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I wasn't sure if it was going to happen or not, but it is: I've more-or-less officially made Asami from the "Planetary" universe. I highly recommend it, because it is a high quality comic book. Also if you want to understand my numerous references to it. (or if you want to ruin your enjoyment of the Fantastic Four stories)  
> That being said, you shouldn't see it as being mandatory to understand it. I'll try to keep all the references to just that: references. Not knowing shit about Planetary shouldn't impact your understanding/enjoyment of this story. if I'm doign my job right, even a little.  
> Anywho I need a nap.


	10. Pushing Buttons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Avatar successfully recruits a new air bender to the cause! Asami knows how it plays out, just wishes the character development would happen sooner rather than later. And someone pushes a button.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! I feel fine! I think I'll go for a walk!  
> Sorry, I went through some hardcore Korrasami style writer's block. (Elevator Stops doesn't count cause technically it was written BEFORE this but whatever)  
> I think I'm back at this... I think. I've also got a bunch of other projects I'm working on (a Mass Effect AU of epic proportions and some original sci-fi fiction) so this might get forgotten about here or there, but I will finish. I promise.

            Asami loved watching Korra at work. The way the woman moved was something else. She was entrancing. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before.Besides it was fun watching Korra torment Mako as a part of their air bending show to recruit me air benders.

            She figured this was where they'd meet Kai, if the dates hadn't gotten all mixed up.

            Sure enough the rogue boy was there and looking to get out of trouble by attaching himself to Team Avatar.

            Korra promised the officers that she'd keep him out of trouble if they released him into her custody. She was so much nobler than Asami.

            Even though she knew Kai's arc and who he'd wind up becoming, he still annoyed her now.

            It was because she knew that she had secrets and there things he couldn't touch, which would only encourage him. There were things on this ship that were invaluable. And Kai was a thief and a pickpocket and he hadn't properly learned consequences. Asami was afraid of what he'd find and she was also afraid of forcing his development too early, of changing the canon more than she already did.

            So she took a middle road. While everyone was celebrating at dinner, they'd finally recruited an air bender! Asami snuck down to her workshop and attached an anti-theft device to the door.

            If anyone other than her opened it, they'd be stunned with an electrical shock similar to that of the Equalist glove. It was shoddy and quick, and any thief from her plane of reality would see right through it in a second, but Kai didn't have that benefit. Asami congratulated herself on her quick work, making a mental note to code Korra as one of the acceptable people allowed in.

            She only managed to miss the beginning of the dinner, so she still had an opportunity to get a little of everything before Bolin and Korra ate it all.

            After food was finished and dishes done, and before Kai could be waylaid by Jinora, Asami pulled the new recruit aside.

            "I get your whole puckish rogue, thief with the heart of gold routine. And you use it to screw with people. Screw with Mako and Bolin all you want," Asami said as she held on to his collar to make sure he couldn't get away. "Don't touch anything of mine or anything you're not supposed to. Because unlike them, I don't tolerate that kind of bullshit. Got it?"

            Kai nodded noncommittally. And Asami let him go.

            She figured she probably just encouraged him to do something stupid. She just hoped it was look in her workshop and not pushing buttons that could kill everyone aboard.

            Asami got her answer the next day. They were about a day outside of Ba Sing Se, when Asami let Korra fly the airship. The pilot had to use the bathroom and it wasn't like Korra had any mountains to crash into. So she figured it was safe.

            She was washing her hands when the ship started shuddering like mad and jerked forward with enough force to floor Asami.

            "Kai," she muttered as she pulled herself up off the ground.

            Asami sprinted to the bridge where Korra was panicking at the wheel.

            "Korra! Give me the wheel!" Asami shouted as she pushed Korra out of the pilot's seat.

            She turned the wheel to a specific degree, pushed several buttons and then yelled, "Tenzin! I need you to steer!"

            The bald air bending master rushed to the wheel.

            "See that flat section in front of us?" Asami asked.

            Tenzin nodded.

            "Keep it directly in front of us as best you can," Asami ordered. "Korra, Mako, Bolin come with me to the engine room!"

            She didn't want for them to acknowledge her, she just ran to the engine room.

            Asami got to there and immediately pried open doors to the steam furnaces that powered the engines.

            "Put the fires out!" yelled Asami as she began turning valves and pulling levers.

            The three benders put out the fire relatively quickly and the second they were out Asami slammed an emergency lever all the way down, killing the engines.

            Without the engines the ship stopped shuddering, but it also had nothing to keep it flying.

            Asami ran to the wall and pushed the button for the intercom, "Everybody brace for impact!"

            Before she even knew what was happening, Asami found herself in a protective little sphere of air that cushioned her against being slammed into the various steel plate walls of the airship.

            "You ok?" Korra asked.

            Asami nodded. "I didn't know air bending felt this warm. I thought for sure it would be colder."

            Korra smiled. Leave it to Asami to save the airship one second and be inquisitive of air bending temperature the next.

            "You should go check on everyone else," Asami said. "I have a lot of repairs to attend to."

            "Ok. I'll find you later, see what I can do to help."

            When Korra had gone Asami went to her workshop, only to find Kai lying unconscious on the floor outside it. She frowned, disabled her crude security system, and went inside.

            When Kai came to, he was handcuffed to a girder in the hallway outside Asami's workshop with the pale women looking down at him angrily.

            "I told you not to fuck with me," she said. "And now you broke my ship. If it were up to me I'd drop you in the middle of the ocean."

            "Good thing it's not," Kai said with a smile.

            "Nope. But for now I think I'll leave you here. And next time, my door won't knock you unconscious, I'll set it to kill."

            "Ok, I get it," Kai said.

            "You really don't."

            "You can let me go now," he strained against the metal.

            Asami waved the key in front of his face and threw it down the hallway where it clattered out of view.

            "Let's see if your new air bending skills or your thieving can get you out of this one," Asami said as she walked away.

            Several hours later Asami had been tinkering with the engines almost nonstop. The sun was starting to set and the sky was starting to darken.

            "Hey," Korra called. "How's it look?"

            Asami pulled her head out of the engine, "I think I've fixed it enough to get us to Ba Sing Se. But once there I'm going to need to spend some serious time on these engines."

            Korra looked concerned. "How long?"

            "Uh..." Asami thought. "I need to replace a couple of o-rings, and at least one fried piston cover. Probably a day or more. Depending on whether or not I can get a metal bender to help me."

            "Sorry I can't help you out there," then Korra dropped her gaze to the ground. "And sorry about breaking your ship. I must have pushed the button by accident. I didn't mean it I swear."

            "You have nothing to be sorry for," Asami said. "It was Kai. He took my stern warning about nothing touching my stuff as an invitation. So I'm pretty sure he touched the button while you weren't looking and then used that as a distraction to try and break into my workshop. But the door stopped him."

            "How do you know it was Kai?"

            "I rigged the door to knock out anyone but me and you that tried to enter it. And lo and behold guess who I find knocked out in front of my door."

            "So you handcuffed him to the wall?"

            "That was for breaking my ship," Asami replied. "Retribution."

            "Well if I had known that I wouldn't have set him free," Korra said. "But how can you be sure that it was Kai that pushed the button? I'm mean I probably did it on accident."

            "We could always check the video," Asami told her. "The mover of the bridge."

            "You have one of those?"

            "I have a couple in various locations in the ship. The bridge, the engine room, the main entrance, and my workroom."

            "Really?"

            "Yeah. We more or less perfected the video, er mover, technology where I'm from. Come on I'll show you."

            "What about the engines?"

            "It's getting dark and I've done about as much work as I can on these. Come on, let's go to my workshop," Asami said as she grabbed Korra by the hand and led her to the ship.

            Korra relished the touch.

            Asami didn't think much of it.

            Sitting on Asami's bench the pair looked over Asami's tablet, which to Korra it looked like a boring rectangle. Then Asami touched it and the screen lit up much to Korra's amazement.

            From the glowing rectangle Korra could see little miniature versions of important locations on the ship.

            "See that's us," Asami said as she touched the screen and the workshop feed filled the device.

            "Wow," Korra breathed, easily impressed. She waved her arm and watched herself do the same thing at the same time on the little device. "That's amazing!"

            Asami smiled and said, "Now for the bridge." She swiped across the screen until the empty bridge appeared. She rewound the footage. Korra passed by briefly, much to the real time one's amazement, then there was the panicked aftermath of the crash, Tenzin trying to steer a falling ship, Asami taking command after the crash, and finally Korra sitting in the pilot’s chair.

            "Ok, here we go," Asami said as she played the footage.

            Korra was sitting at the wheel and a look of intense concentration was on her face. Bolin, Mako, and Tenzin were milling about. Kai was looking out the window. Then he stretched his arms over his head as he turned on his heel and headed out of the bridge, walking right passed Korra. Then, just as he was closest to the emergency boost button, he stumbled and his hand shot out to steady himself. A few seconds later the whole ship started to shake, Korra started to panic, and Kai was gone from view.

            "That little creep!" Korra cried.

            "Don't be too hard on him," Asami said.

            "You knocked him out and handcuffed him to a wall! He should count himself lucky!"

            "I know Kai is an asshole, but he does get better. Eventually. It is just not something I'm willing to deal with when it comes to your life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait and then the semi-lackluster ending. I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing, and I just want this chapter done.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, here we go, my new big project: a piece of fanfiction about a fictional world that is now in a fictional!universe. Does that sounds confusing? Don't worry there will be explanations! (the short of it is that Korra exists in a fictional universe and Asami found a way of getting herself into said fictional universe [from her own 'real' universe] in an attempt to change the ending)  
> So here are the ground rules: I'm not going to be writing this like I've written everything else (i.e. all at once and then update super insanely quick) so updates will come as I finish them; this story, by its very nature, will be about stories, the telling there-in, characters, fanfictions, audiences, shipping, etc. etc. it will be very very meta, I'm gonna need you guys to keep me grounded!; also this story will be fucking with the canon a bit, so there will have to be a few OC's (I'm not really a big fan of doing OC's I don't know why but I don't) so bare with me; also I have no idea where this story is going so... *shrugs*  
> Basically if you find this at all intriguing, I'm gonna need you guys to make sure I keep the fanwank and ridiculous under check. Do that for me please?  
> PS The quote at the beginning is from Planetary (which is a FANTASTIC comic book series on the nature of superhero stories and you should read all of it [one of the main characters, Jakita Wagner, is a biracial woman who can drop kick a rhino over the grand canyon]) Chapter 9: Planet Fiction which is about this very idea.


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